The instant invention relates to a peroxygen bleaching composition which is activated in an aqueous solution at room temperature or higher temperatures. The peroxygen bleach composition comprises a mixture of a monopersulfate peroxygen bleaching compound and a monoketal of an alkanedione bleach activator which react together in an aqueous solution to form a dioxirane bleaching composition.
Bleaching cleaning, oxidizing and disinfectant and compositions have been used in home and industrial applications for hard surface care and fabric care.
Hypochlorite bleaches are very effective at removal of stains, when they are used in relatively high concentrations, but these hypochlorite, as well as other active chlorine bleaches, can cause rather severe damage to fabric colors as well as damaging textile fibers. Additionally, these hypochlorite liquid bleaches can present handling and packaging problems. Color and fabric damage can be minimized by the use of milder oxygen bleaches such as potassium monopersulfate; however, stain removal characteristics of these peroxygen bleaches are much less desirable than those of the harsher halogen bleaching agents. Commercial bleaching compositions which contain peroxygen bleaches commonly utilize activators; which are compounds that enhance the performance of the peroxygen bleachant. Bleaching compositions which have employed various types of bleach activators have been disclosed in: Popkin, U.S. Pat. No. 1,940,768, Dec. 26, 1933; Baevsky, U.S. Pat. No. 3,061,550, Oct. 30, 1962; Mackellar et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,839, Aug. 29, 1967; and Woods, U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,711, Jan. 19, 1971. The instantly disclosed bleachant activators represent an improvement over these previously disclosed activators for the cleaning of fabrics and hard surfaces because of the ability of the formulator to formulation bleachant compositions which are activate at room temperature while causing less damage to the fabric being cleaned.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,114 teaches a bleaching composition comprising a peroxygen bleaching activator and a ketone or aldehyde bleaching activator; however, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,114 fails to provide an effective bleaching composition which will undergo a bleaching process at room temperature. U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,114 fails to teach or recognize the unique cyclo-hexanedione monoketal as a bleachant activators of the instant invention which provide the user with the ability to effectively perform bleaching process at room temperature.
Robert W. Murray in Chem Rev. 1989, 89,1187-1201 teaches a formation of dioxiranes from ketones and monopersulfates which fails to teach the unique and novel monoketal cycloalkanedione bleachant activators of the instant invention which permit the use to employ at room temperature a bleaching process on a stained fabric. The peroxygen bleaching composition can be used directly in an aqueous solution to bleach a fabric or a harsh surface or in the alternative the bleaching composition can be added to a cleaning composition such as a powdered laundry detergent, a nonaqueous laundry detergent, a scouring powder, a hard surface cleaning composition, a powdered automatic dishwashing composition, a nonaqueous automatic dishwashing composition, a hair bleachant composition, a wound cleaning composition, a dental cleaning composition, a paper bleaching composition and a prespotter.
Again Waldemar Adam et al in Acc. Chem Rev. 1989, 22,205-211 teaches the formation of dioxiranes from monopersulfates and ketones but as in Murray he fails to realize the critical selection of a cycloalkanedione monoketal as bleachant activator.